Friday, October 28, 2011

SNOW SHOWERS, SOME HAIL AND A FINAL DEPARTURE DATE OF SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12TH

Had ourselves a lite dusting of snow showers early this afternoon. Sky's later cleared with Pheebs and I hitting the forest trail for a leisurely afternoon photo walk. Air was cold, but how nice to feel the warming rays of a late day sun. Many trees still holding on to their colourful Autumn leaves made for a pleasant scenic walk along the forest trail.

I had really been hoping we would be out of here on Saturday November 5th but I was told today it will be November 12th now:(( I ask you, how many repeated departure delays can an overly impatient travel oriented fella take!!

Beginning to suspect the internet provider company COMCAST may be responsible for some folks not being able to access our Bayfield Bunch blog site. Two of the folks we have heard from have Comcast and one of those people, Lakeport Al, said when he switched over to his Verizon card he was able to access our site with no problem. Our neighbour Monica who traveled to Florida last week said she called Comcast and they told her it wasn't their problem. So, I don't know:(( Does anyone have any ideas for these folks who can't access our site?

I like toast. I think I could live on toast alone. I had to basically stop buying bread many years ago because I would bring a loaf home, toast it all up and eat in a matter of days. I probably have not personally bought a loaf of bread in maybe 10 years. But, Kelly buys bread and I have been known to sneak a slice or ten and toast them up when she’s not looking. That wonderful aroma of toasting bread always gives me away though despite putting the stove exhaust fan on and holding the toaster under it. Kelly has been known to hide her bread. When I stopped buying bread years ago I switched over to something called Tortilla flat bread. Flat bread doesn’t toast well, in fact it doesn’t toast well at all. Too floppy to stand up straight in the toaster. For a week now I have been eating toast again. Kelly brought home bread from the health food store which she assured me is made differently than the high preservative wheat based breads. I took her word for that and nearly toasted myself to death in one short week. Next week, I have to work on not eating toast again. May even have to sign myself up for TA. Been many years since I have been to a 12 step program but I understand ‘Toasters Anonymous’ has a high rate of success:))

Big week-end coming up for Kelly in Cambridge. Not only does she have two daughters and a set of twins flying in from Vancouver but her Son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first baby on Halloween. She will be staying with yet another daughter and son-in-law who themselves have two young boys aged around 4 and 5. The Vancouver twins by the way are just turning 2. The twins father will be flying in from Vancouver shortly as well. Add to that mix yet another son and fiancé babysitting a friend’s energetic dog for the week-end. It’s been quite awhile since Kelly has been together with her whole family all at once so the agenda is going to be hectic especially with one daughter already having to fly right back to Vancouver on Monday. Kelly certainly has her week-end excitement cut out for her. She heads out Saturday morning.

Myself and the two furry kids will be holding the Fort here at home. Doesn’t make a lot of sense adding another person plus two dogs into an already crowded situation in Cambridge. With Pheebe’s boundless happy energy and love of people and kids it would just be chaos in the house to say the least. And, all that commotion would really upset our quiet little Motormouse for sure. The original plans called for Kelly’s daughter Sarah to bring the twins up to Bayfield for a couple days and stay at one of the Deer Park Lodge’s cozy cabins but all the cabins are booked right up. Plus, Sarah has a lot of visiting to do with friends in the Cambridge area for the short two weeks she will be here. Kelly figured it would just be much easier for her to slip over to Cambridge for a few days. I agreed.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( I went to the psychiatrist, and he says "You're crazy." I tell him I want a second opinion. He says, "Okay, you're ugly too!" (Rodney Dangerfield)

-Tourists see the world, travelers experience it. -Until one has loved an Animal, their soul remains un-awakened. BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

Toast is one of my biggest downfalls and I have many. Toast with butter, toast with peanut butter, toast with honey, toast with peanut butter and honey, toast with jelly. You get the idea. But it has to be a good whole grain bread not that white mushy stuff.

Sounds like a crazy week-end for Kelly and so much fun for her. And an actual departure date. Yahoo!!

Look at it this way you'll be able to eat all the toast you want with Kelly in Cambridge, plus still get to batch it with the two mutzo's. What a life.Have a great week Al. and just be careful out there. Sam & Donna...

Ha ha that's so funny about the toast! I call it "toast torture." Sometimes when I'm working in someone's house and I've let myself get too hungry, I smell toast and it makes me crazy. Or if I'm home and vowed to not eat anymore that day, I'll perk up and notice the smell of toast my partner is making in the kitchen and all resolutions go out the window. I always wonder how long it would take a prisoner to talk if faced with toast torture, especially the smell of toast and coffee! There's nothing else like it!

Ha Ha, I will be in the sunny south before you.I will eat a slice of toast every day in you honor. It will have an egg sunny side up and some hot sauce on the side. I love it that way.I will still follow your blog and will be in Tucson in Feb. Still hope to meet you in person some day.Hope you stay busy with the boys when wifey is with the family.Tom

We are (hopefully) leaving Monday, the 14th,so if you feel an overpacked HitchHiker breathing up your exhaust and beeping as it sails past...it may be the Cave Dwellers..(Den has a programmer in the diesel and it can really "get up and go!"..As for toast..when I was young, mom use to make us toast with butter, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff..That would call for an artery rotor rooter!!

AL'S CAMERAS

One of the most frequently asked questions readers have about my blog is what kind of camera do I use. I actually have 3 Nikon DSLR's & 2 Canon point & shoot cameras. And I use them all.

Purchased my third Nikon DSLR on July 23rd 2013. A D3100 body only. Three weeks later I had to purchase a new 18-55mm lens to go with the D3100 because my older 18 to 35 lens did not get along well with the newer camera.

My DSLR Nikon D-90 sports a Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-6.6 lens. I use this camera for most of my candid people photos, birds, animals, bugs, & flowers. Before my D3100 this camera was my landscape camera.

My Nikon DSLR D-40 is now a back up camera & can handle any of my 4 Nikkor lenses. I'd sure like to hang a nice Nikkor MACRO lens on this one:))

Now having said all that......I do change camera bodies & lenses around from time to time so the camera & lens set-ups are not always the same combination as described above.

My Canon Powershot SX210iS is the point & shoot camera I carry in a case on my belt everywhere I go.

My Canon Powershot A730iS point & shoot is the camera that sits close to my recliner for most of those doggy living room photos.

All of my Nikkor lenses are interchangable between the D3100, D-90, & the D-40.

Previous to my Nikon D-3100 & D-90, most of my photos were taken with my old faithful Nikon D-50 from about 2006 to early 2011 whereupon the D-50 suffered a rather gruesome fate when it fell off a table onto a cement porch in southeastern Arizona. The 70-300mm lens on the camera survived the fall but the D-50 did not:((

I also have a Stellarvue 80mm Refractor Nighthawk telescope which I have adapted to fit my Nikons giving me the equivelent of a 700mm lens. Only control I have over this lens is shutter speed. It is also manual focus.